The addition of neostigmine to epidural analgesia is an effective option during labor when it comes to considerably reduce the amount of required anesthetic drug, as per a study in an issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

This journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, which is considered to be one of the leading providers of information and business intelligence by students, institutions, and professionals in the worlds of pharmacy and nursing to name a few.

From News-Medical.Net:

Anesthesiologists in developed countries primarily provide analgesia for women in labor by giving them an epidural anesthetic, which blocks the pain of labor contractions from reaching the spinal cord and brain. Epidural anesthesia almost always consists of a cocktail comprised of a local anesthetic, such as bupivacaine, and a morphine-like drug, such as fentanyl. However, these opioid drugs can cause significant side effects, including abnormalities of the fetal heart rate.

The new study suggests that adding neostigmine instead of opioids can improve the quality of epidural pain relief for women in labor, while decreasing the amount of local anesthetic required. “This represents an important advance in providing safe and effective pain relief for women in labor, because it may allow anesthesiologists to replace the morphine-like drugs with less toxic drugs such as neostigmine,” according to an accompanying editorial by Dr. Cynthia Wong of Northwestern University, Chicago. However, Dr. Eisenach notes that large safety studies are still needed provide assurance that neostigmine itself has an adequate safety profile to permit widespread clinical use.

It was found out that neostigmine can prove to be one of the most effective options in facilitating improvements in the quality of epidural pain relief, as per a study led by Dr. James Eisenach of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C.

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Athletes can gain an advantage with caffeine while delivering performance at competitive events, as per scientists at the University of Birmingham. This fact was revealed during a study conducted by researchers at University of Birmingham’s school of sport and exercise sciences.

During the study, it was found out that caffeine into sports drinks can increase the rate of absorption in context to carbohydrates by as much as 26 percent, giving an advantage to professional athletes, somewhat like steroids.

From News-Medical.Net:

Scientists at the University of Birmingham say that caffeine can help athletes by boosting the body’s absorption of carbohydrates.

According to a study conducted by researchers at the university’s school of sport and exercise sciences, it was found that by introducing caffeine into sports drinks it increased the absorption rate of carbohydrates by 26 percent.

A group of eight cyclists took part in three two-hour exercise sessions, and for each of the three trials, the cyclists took one of three different sports drinks, glucose, glucose mixed with caffeine, and water.

The researchers found that caffeine increased the amount of carbohydrates absorbed from the sports drink.

If an individual is able to gain energy from his or her drinks then there is a suggested hint that he or she is using less energy from the body stores, according to Dr. Asker Jeukendrup, the director of the University’s Human Performance Laboratory.

Jeukendrup also said that while caffeine cannot be termed as a performance-enhancing substance like steroids, it does affect the level of carbohydrates in the body of an athlete.

For informational purposes, it is good to note that Caffeine was removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency list of banned substances, way back in January 2004.

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Schering Plough, a global healthcare company recently announced their latest fixed dose combination for the treatment of asthma patients 12 years of age and above. The combination of mometasone furoate and formoterol fumarate is expected to bring in more sales for the company. Products containing a combination of inhaled corticosteroid and long acting beta-2 agonists (LABs) are the biggest segment in the market.

Mometasone furoate is an inhaled corticosteroid for the maintenance treatment of asthma. It is not recommended for children below 4 years old. On the other hand, formoterol fumarate is a beta-2 agonist, also used for maintenance treatment of asthma patients 5 years and up. Both drugs are not recommended as rescue inhalers, therefore, they are not recommended for use in acute symptoms of asthma.

The company filed a new drug application in the United States Food and Drug Administration for this particular combination. It has been accepted for review and they are hoping that it would be approved for use and distribution in the market. The company owns exclusive rights for manufacturing and distribution of mometasone furoate and formoterol fumarate. This combination comes in a single metered-dose inhaler.

From Medical News Today:

“We are pleased to announce the U.S. filing of the fixed-dose combination of mometasone furoate and formoterol fumarate,” said Thomas P. Koestler, Ph. D., executive vice president and president, Schering-Plough Research Institute. “If approved by the FDA, the mometasone fuorate/formoterol combination would represent an important additional treatment option for physicians and their patients and further strengthen Schering-Plough’s portfolio of respiratory products.”

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